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About Me

Stewart StevensonBanffshire, Scotland

Born in 1946 and brought up in Cupar, Fife, I was educated at the local school - Bell Baxter - and then studied Mathematics at the University of Aberdeen, graduating with a modest degree in 1969. That's also the year Sandra & I married. Her family comes from the North East.

Thirty years later I retired from Bank of Scotland as Director of Technology Innovation and was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2001 as member for Banff & Buchan having first joined the SNP in 1961.

I am a Fellow of The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, a Member at The Institution of Engineering and Technology, a Professional Member of the Association for Computing Machinery, a Member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists and an Associate Member of the Highland Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Association.

20 June 2005

Mr Stevenson asked the Minister whether he had any plans to create local call centres for NHS 24. The move follows criticism in the media of standards of service delivered by NHS 24.

Commenting afterwards, Mr Stevenson said:

“Local delivery of health services will always be better than remote delivery because local delivery draws on local knowledge.

“NHS 24 is a useful resource for people but should not be viewed as a replacement for dialling 999 in cases of emergency.

“Plans are underway in the NHS in England and Wales to computerise health records which will mean that healthcare professionals faced with a patient or casualty who is not known to them can access their medical history in making their assessment of what treatment is required.

“Currently, NHS 24 is handicapped by not being able to access their callers’ medical records. While we wait for computerisation of medical records in Scotland, local NHS 24 ‘mini-centres’ can make a positive impact on service delivery and I am pleased that the Minister recognised that in his response to me.”